This invention relates to a conveyor belt construction for use in a conveyor having individual conveying members, such as a platen-type conveyor for use in a vacuum packaging apparatus.
A conveyor with individual conveying members, such as platens, typically utilizes a chain or the like that carries the conveying members. While this construction provides satisfactory operation, use of a chain in a conveyor results in certain drawbacks. For example, a chain will stretch over time due to wear in the components of the chain, which detracts from performance and requires periodic maintenance. Conveyor belts have been developed that eliminate belt stretch, typically by incorporating flexible, non-stretchable materials such as Kevlar®. However, a conveyor belt typically requires the use of a belt tensioner to tighten the belt onto the rotatable members of the conveyor. Furthermore, there is not a known satisfactory means for mounting individual conveying members to a conveyor belt.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a conveyor belt construction, for use in a conveyor with individual conveying members, which eliminates the use of a tensioner to tighten the belt onto the rotatable members of the conveyor. It is a further object of the invention to provide such a conveyor belt construction that incorporates a mounting arrangement for securing individual conveying members to the conveyor belt. It is another object of the invention to provide a conveyor having a belt with individual conveying members, such as platens. Yet another object of the invention is to provide a conveyor belt construction that is relatively simple in its components and assembly, yet which provides an efficient means for tightening the belt onto the rotatable members of the conveyor and for mounting the individual conveying members onto the belt.
In accordance with the present invention, a conveyor belt construction includes a flexible conveyor belt defining first and second oppositely facing surfaces, a first clamp member defining an arcuate belt engaging area with which the first surface of the flexible conveyor belt is engaged, and a second clamp member defining an arcuate belt engaging area with which the second surface of the flexible conveyor belt is engaged. The arcuate area of one of the first and second clamp members is concave and the arcuate area of the other of the first and second clamp members is convex. The first and second clamp members are secured together and the belt is sandwiched between the concave and convex areas of the first and second clamp members. A series of sets of first and second clamp members secured together at spaced intervals along the length of the flexible conveyor belt. The conveyor belt construction is engaged with a pair of rotatable members, and the concave and convex areas of the first and second clamp members of each set of clamp members function to take up a length of the flexible conveyor belt so as to tighten the flexible conveyor belt onto the pair of rotatable members without the use of a belt tensioner.
One of the first and second clamp members is in the form of an outer clamp member, and the other of the first and second clamp members is in the form of an inner clamp member. A conveying member is mounted to an outer one of the first and second clamp members. Representatively, each conveying member may be in the form of a platen defining an outwardly facing surface adapted to support an article to be conveyed.
Engagement structure may be interposed between each inner clamp member and the inner surface of the conveyor belt with which the inner clamp member is engaged. Representatively, the engagement structure may be in the form of a series of transverse ridges and grooves on the inner surface of the conveyor belt along the length of the conveyor belt, and a series of mating transverse ridges and grooves on the arcuate area of the inner clamp member that engage the ridges and grooves on the inner surface of the conveyor belt.
The invention also contemplates a conveyor having a conveyor belt construction in accordance with the foregoing summary, and a method of tightening a conveyor belt onto rotatable members associated with a conveyor, also in accordance with the foregoing summary.
Various other features, objects and advantages of the invention will be made apparent from the following description taken together with the drawings.